Quote: alcabiades "The RU are great at getting positive spin. The London double header and the Sarries game all let in people cheap and have boosted the attendance figures, the media can then say crowds are on the up without looking into the background.
Ignoring the three subsidised mathches the only big increase has been at Leicester for the opening of their new stand,and only three other matches of the eighteen matches so far played, have exceeded last years attendances.
So of the [inormal[/i games, there have been reductions in the attendances in eleven matches. out of eighteen. Not mentioned in the media.'"
And therein lies the skill of the RFU and the clubs themselves. Whilst us RL fans are screaming 'freebies' at the TV, the news media are talking of the huge strides the club game is making.
Yes, they're giving away freebies but, I suspect, by doing so they're attracting a proportion of those people to pay to attend games in the future and attracting sponsorship (a sponsor with a billboard in a stadium with 50k people in it won't care if they paid to be there or not I'd imagine).
We have by far and away the superior sport in terms of spectacle yet couldn't organise a you know what in a you know where!
